US 9020697

US Patent 9,020,697: Vehicle-Based Multimode Discovery

Summary:

US Patent 9,020,697, titled "Vehicle-based multimode discovery," was issued on April 28, 2015, from an application filed on April 15, 2014. The original assignee was Flextronics AP LLC, and the current assignee is AutoConnect Holdings LLC. The inventors are Christopher P. Ricci, Octavian Chincisan, and Alisher I. Yusupov.

The patent's abstract describes a vehicle-based multimode discovery system and method. This system involves a computational device within a vehicle that receives data from the vehicle's sensors and a user's portable computational device. The vehicle's computational device creates a local zone around the vehicle and uses the received data to determine a context for the vehicle within that zone. Based on this context, the system generates a discovery notification that includes information about a point of interest or a point of activity. This notification is then transmitted to the user's portable computational device.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

The patent includes multiple independent claims, each outlining a distinct aspect of the invention:

• Independent Claim 1 (Method): This claim describes a method for vehicle-based multimode discovery. It involves a computational device within a vehicle performing several steps:

  1. Receiving vehicle sensor data.
  2. Receiving data from a portable computational device (PCD) associated with a user in the vehicle.
  3. Creating a local zone around the vehicle.
  4. Determining a context for the vehicle within the local zone using both the vehicle sensor data and the PCD data.
  5. Generating a discovery notification based on this context. The notification includes information related to a point of interest or activity.
  6. Transmitting the discovery notification to the user's PCD.

• Independent Claim 11 (System): This claim describes a vehicle-based multimode discovery system. It comprises:

  1. A vehicle.
  2. A computational device located within the vehicle. This computational device is configured to:
     • Receive vehicle sensor data.
     • Receive data from a portable computational device (PCD) associated with a user in the vehicle.
     • Create a local zone around the vehicle.
     • Determine a context for the vehicle within the local zone using both the vehicle sensor data and the PCD data.
     • Generate a discovery notification based on this context, where the notification includes information related to a point of interest or activity.
     • Transmit the discovery notification to the user's PCD.

• Independent Claim 20 (Non-transitory Computer-Readable Storage Medium): This claim covers a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions which, when executed by a computational device in a vehicle, cause the computational device to perform the method steps outlined in Independent Claim 1. These steps include receiving data, creating a local zone, determining context, generating a discovery notification, and transmitting it to a user's portable computational device.

Litigation Information:

US Patent 9,020,697 is currently involved in litigation. A PTAB (Patent Trial and Appeal Board) case, IPR2025-01342, has been filed and is currently pending and instituted. Additionally, US cases have been filed in the Texas Eastern District Court (case number 2:24-cv-00802) and the Delaware District Court (case number 1:24-cv-01327).